Cassian (The Immortal Highland Centurions #2) - Jayne Castel Page 0,44

to get things done.

Dragging in a deep breath, Aila raised her hand and gently knocked upon the door.

And then she waited.

At first nothing happened.

Moments passed, stretching out. Aila’s already racing heart started to thud painfully against her ribs.

Had he even heard her? She hadn’t knocked that loudly, for fear of waking up the others who lay slumbering in the nearby chambers.

I should return to my own bed. She took a step back, feeling sick. This is folly.

And then the door opened.

Cassian stood there, dressed only in a pair of braies.

For a few instants, the pair of them merely stared at each other, and then Cassian’s gaze narrowed. “Is something wrong, Aila?” he murmured. His short hair was mussed with sleep, and the burnished light of the cressets played across the muscular lines of his bare torso. Aila’s gaze settled upon the strange mark he bore upon the right side of his chest: an eagle with its wings spread.

Her mouth went dry at the sight of him, her heart now pounding wildly.

“No,” she whispered. “Can I come in? I wish to speak to ye.”

Cassian’s gaze slid over her, taking in the robe she wore and her bare feet. “You want to enter my bed-chamber?”

Aila nodded.

His throat bobbed. “This isn’t a good idea. Please go back to bed.”

Aila’s chest constricted. She’d feared this might happen, even though Fyfa had assured her that a little reticence on his part was to be expected.

“I can’t,” she whispered, cursing the way her voice now wobbled. “I must speak to ye first.”

He stared at her, his hazel eyes hooding in a way that made her lower belly catch alight. “You do realize what you’re doing?”

Aila nodded once more, not trusting herself to speak. She did realize—although it was taking every last bit of courage to continue.

Fortune may have favored the bold, but she felt about as brave as a mouse.

Another long pause drew out, and then Cassian stepped back, opening the door so that she could enter.

Remembering to keep breathing, Aila walked into his bed-chamber.

The room was similar in size to her own, with a small hearth burning in one corner that illuminated a simply furnished space and a narrow bed against one wall. But unlike her chamber, this one had a tiny shuttered window.

The door shut behind Aila with a soft thud.

And then she found herself alone with Cassian in his chamber.

Turning to him, she wished her belly wasn’t churning so violently. She clearly didn’t have the nerve for this; the fear of rejection was overwhelming.

“What is it you want?” he asked. There was a hardness to his tone that cowed her. However, it contradicted the heat in his stare and the sharp rise and fall of his chest. She wondered why he seemed to blow so hot and cold with her. Surely, if he wanted her like she did him, he didn’t need to fight it?

“I’m not a bairn, Cassian,” she replied softly. “Ye don’t need to treat me like one. If I come to ye, I do so willingly.”

His expression shadowed. “Are you a virgin, Aila?”

His question made her draw in a sharp breath. It was an intimate thing to ask, and yet considering that she’d invited herself into his chamber, it was a fair one.

“Aye,” she murmured, shrugging off her thick woolen robe, letting it pool to the floor. Despite that she wore the thin shift underneath, she felt exposed. Yet she kept her shoulders back and continued to hold his eye. She couldn’t let him see just how nervous she was. “But I wish to give my maidenhead to ye.”

His features grew taut, even as his gaze raked over her. Glancing down, she saw that her nipples were hard and clearly visible through the gauzy material of her shift. She hadn’t had the nerve to come before him naked, but she may as well have been.

“Why?” he grated out the word. “Don’t ye wish to wait for a husband?”

Aila’s gaze snapped back up, and she raised her chin as she met his eye once more. “I want ye … I’ve wanted ye for a long time … and I believe ye feel the same way.”

“You want me to bed you … nothing more?” His tone turned incredulous.

Aila’s heart shrank at the question. No, she wanted everything. She wanted Cassian Gaius body and soul, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it.

Fyfa had counseled her to remain emotionally reserved, no matter how physically heated their encounter became. “A man should feel he’s